Digests, Synopses, Author Biographies
Biography
and Genealogy Master Index Useful database when it
is unknown
what biographical source to use
Ref. PN 451.D32
Dictionary
of Literary Biography volume 116
MagillOnLiterature
Plus Contains fulltext of author biographies, summaries of
works, and basic criticism.
The
Library Catalog
will
provide a list of print and electronic books available on Austen. Use
the
Library Catalog
to find full-length biographies and criticisms of Austen.
Do a subject search on Austen's last name. Go to the "Sort" button and
sort by reverse year. Examples of books include an encyclopedia
about Austen and books on the historical Austen.
WorldCat
is a wonderful
database which lists all published resources (Not specific journal
articles, but books, facsimile editions, AV, dissertations, etc.)
Interlibrary
Loan
is available for books and journal
articles not available at NSU. Use the databases listed in the
next section to find biographical articles about Jane Austen.
Criticisms on Specific Works
Would you like to find an article such as the one listed below?
"I
am Elizabeth Bennett"
The following databases are useful for research on authors and specific
works. Search by the author's last name and an important word from the
title of the work. You can also include a particular
aspect. For instance, if searching for articles about Elizabeth
Bennett from
Pride and Prejudice,
try searching
<austen and
elizabeth>
Note: In EbscoHost the * is a truncation symbol which will look
for romantic, romantics, romanticism, etc.
Humanities Full Text
MLA
Bibliography
There are also literary explictors that indicate where
criticisms can be found, in either books or journals, on specific works.
Ref. PR
821.P26
English Novel Explication
Ref. PN
523.M25
Magill's Bibliography of
Literary
Criticism (volume 1)
Reserve Materials
Dr. Wilcox has placed some books on Reserve. Reserve is located
on the first floor of the library in the northeast corner. Ask
for materials by course number, professor, and title of work.
Also located at Reserve are several movies based on Jane Austen's
works. Several are in processing and will be available in about
two weeks (September 15, 2006).
Internet Resources
Of course, there are many resources available through the Web. The
librarian for the department has created the
English
page which lists some useful Web sites. The
Eserver is a very good English Web
site. The library provides a list of
search engines.
(Try
the library's
Google
CLIP tutorial.) Search the following Web pages for interesting
resources:
The Internet Public Library and
Librarians' Index to the Internet.
Jane
Austen
Information Page
http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/janeinfo.html
Cross Disciplinary Sources
Whether researching literary topics or other fields in English, it is
important to remember to look outside the field for information.
Historical materials are useful and can be found in books and articles
using such databases as
Academic
Search
Premier and
Humanities Full Text.
Other useful disciplines can include psychology,
religion, and philosophy.
Evaluating Sources
With all resources, it is important to assess the quality of what you
find. Use the following checklist to assist with that
determination:
1. Identify the author(s) and determine his/her credentials.
Does the author have a degree in the field; is the author a
professor;
does the author have other works published on similar topics?
2. What is the date of the publication? Currency is important in
most fields. It is especially important for Web pages.
3. Does the publisher have a good reputation? Is the resource
published by a professional association or university press? Is
the journal
refereed? For Web sites, check the URL to determine the sponsor.
Gov
sites are government sites; com are commercial; edu are educational.
4. How do the critics perceive the work? Are there reviews
available?
5. Is the material complete? Does it have an index, bibliography.
Is it well written with few grammatical or spelling errors?
6. Is the language slanted or biased?
7. Does it include references to well known facts or research studies?
8. For Web pages, do the links work?
Citing Sources
To avoid plagiarism, it is important to cite materials correctly.
Indiana University has a good guide on
plagiarism.
To cite the resources that you've found, check the
Citation
Clip tutorial. The
M.L.A. Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
is located on the first floor of the library, Ready Ref. LB
2369.G53. Also, try the
MLA
Web site.
